Stand modification(Engineers??)

[kwgozy]

I have an 150gl Oceanic brickstyle aquarium48"Lx24"Wx30"H. I had Oceanic customize the stand 6"Lx25"W, this way it gives me a foot on both sides of the length makes a good place stand to reach down in the tank.

My question is, I want to cut holes and install two fans in the sides of my stand. On the ends that is 24" wide, the fans I want to use are like the ones that come in the ends of most SE metal halide fixtures except these run much faster. I thought one each end, one blowing in and the other out. Will this effect the structure of the stand or make it weak? I would hate to do this and the stand give or break.

I'm hoping that this will help with heat and build up of unwanted Co2. Any help or suggestions would be great, if you need more details like heigth of stand or construction let me know. Thanks



Kyle

 

[meschaefer]

I am not an engineer, but I do a good amount of wood working. It is almost impossible to give you an answer without knowing how the load of the tank is spread out across the stand, and the materials the stand is made of . That being said, I would have no problem cutting a fan hole in my freinds oceanic stand made of 3/4 inch oak venner plywood for his 90 gallon.

On another note, I would have the fans both blowing in, or both blowing out depending on the reason for the fans in the first place. lets say that you have two fans each blowing 30 cubic foot per minute. If one is blowing 30 cf in and the other is blowing 30 cf out, you have a net movement of air of 30 cf. ON the other hand, if they are both blowing in, you have 30 cf x 2 ...ie 60 cf of air movment.

 

[kwgozy]

Thanks, it is a 4' tank centered on a 6' fan. It to is also oak, stained cherry. I don't think I would have a problem just would hate to have that kind or disaster on my hands.

Thanks for the idea with the fan I just want to move the heat built up in the stand from various equipment out. I'm hoping that I do not need to buy a chiller. Thanks

Kyle

 

[mgranato]

I'm not an engineer either, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. Acutally I'm a cabinet maker. It's hard to say for certain with out seeing a pic of your stand, but if its built with 3/4 ply you should be fine. Something you may want to consider is reinforcing the hole. Say your fan cutout is a 4" circle, get some 3/4 ply material as big as will fit inside your stand and screw and glue it behind the area you're cutting. You then would actually be cutting a hole in 1.5" material rather than 3/4 stock. If at all possible use a fan that requires a roud hole versus a square hole, much better structural integrity with anything circular.

 

[kwgozy]

Thanks if I can get a picture posed I will. Thanks

Kyle

 

[WarrenG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8513003#post8513003 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by meschaefer On another note, I would have the fans both blowing in, or both blowing out depending on the reason for the fans in the first place. lets say that you have two fans each blowing 30 cubic foot per minute. If one is blowing 30 cf in and the other is blowing 30 cf out, you have a net movement of air of 30 cf. ON the other hand, if they are both blowing in, you have 30 cf x 2 ...ie 60 cf of air movment. [/B]

That's fine as long as that much air can be drawn in or pushed out of the openings around the hood. Like a whole house fan that can pull lots of air into the attic IF there are sufficient openings in the house (windows and doors open) to do so AND there are sufficient openings in the attic for air to be pushed out (by the fan).

If there aren't sufficient openings in the hood then one fan going in and one going out will be best.